This invention is an apparatus for planting seedlings in soil in commercial growing fields, namely mechanical transplanter devices which are generally well known in the art. Typically, mechanical seedling transplanters include a furrow opener or planting shoe device that opens a furrow in the ground as the transplanter moves through a field. The transplanter continuously drops seedlings into the open furrow, and then closes the furrow and compacts the soil around the seedling after the seedling has been deposited in the ground. Also, because seedling transplanters must be able to accommodate a variety of plant types, each of which may require different spacing between the seedlings, the transplanter must be adjustable so that the seedlings will be spaced apart at specific predetermined intervals along the path of the transplanter.
Most prior art transplanters utilize a rotating tray having a series of hinged funnels or cups that open and drop the seedlings into a delivery chute that leads to the furrow opened by a plow or shoe carried by the transplanter. A major problem with prior art mechanical transplanters is that these apparatuses are labor intensive requiring many workers to operate them which can be very expensive. For instance, many workers are required to operate rotating seedling trays, and then these workers will have to manually drop seedlings from the rotating trays into the delivery chute, and then these seedlings will subsequently be transferred into the open furrow in the ground. When the seedling enters the furrow, a reciprocating stabilizing member or “kicker” swings into place and momentarily supports the seedling while the soil is compacted around it. The kicker then swings out of the way so that the next seedling can enter the furrow. The action of the kicker and the opening of the hinged cup typically are synchronized by a system of gears or chains, all of which is normally driven by a Power Take Off Unit (PTO) or hydraulics connected to the tow tractor that pulls the transplanter through the field.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved mechanical transplanter that is assembled to be independently automated in order to eliminate the need for manual labor, and thus reducing labor expenses.